Errors fail to dent Ferguson’s bid to be Christmas bestseller

As a manager Sir Alex Ferguson was a stickler for the details, going as far as to bring his own watch out to monitor stoppage time, but as an author it would appear the Scot has been left red-cheeked by a failure to check his facts before publication.

The Scot has been back among the headlines this week for all the wrong reasons after it was revealed that his recently-released book, ‘My Autobiography’, contained a whopping 45 inaccuracies.

Highlights include the claim that Dutch hard man Jaap Stam was sold to Roma, when he in fact moved to Lazio, while another anecdote recalls a row between Juan Sebastian Veron and Gabriel Heinze that occurred one game, despite the pair never being at the club at the same time.

The book also claims Ryan Giggs made his Manchester United debut at the age of 16 when he was in fact a year older, while Roy Keane’s stint at Old Trafford is reduced from 12 to 11 years.

Despite this, Ferguson’s story remains on course for the coveted top spot on the Christmas bestsellers list, with Ladbrokes offering odds of 2/5.

This puts the book some way ahead of nearest rival Jamie Oliver, whose latest release ‘Save With Jamie’ can be backed at 7/2.

The chasm in prices comes after an impressive first week of sales for Ferguson’s autobiography, which shifted a staggering 115,547 copies.

And while this latest issue may leave both the former Red Devils boss and publishers Hodder and Stoughton blushing, it could ultimately prove beneficial to sales of the book, with much of the attention surrounding the publication previously dying down from the initial buzz.

With the publishing firm even going as far as to offer refunds to those customers truly unhappy at the mistakes, it could yet be an all white Christmas for Ferguson.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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